Charlie fought back a sniffle. “Scott punched me.” Gingerly touching his nose, he choked out, “I’m okay.”
There was a tiny amount of blood, but Skyler suspected his tears were from shock and humiliation more than pain. “I know I’d be bawling if I got hit in the nose like that. How about if we go get some ice for it?”
She led him into the kitchen and wrapped an ice pack from the freezer in a dishtowel. She held it to his nose until it stopped bleeding then sat him on her lap and stroked his tear-stained cheek. Charlie leaned his head against her shoulder and let out a long sigh. “Jessica danced with me before. She sure is pretty, isn’t she?”
Skyler chuckled deep in her chest. “She sure is, Charlie.”
Skyler squinted in the sun as she watched Jessica take Rampage over the show jumps a couple of days after the fund-raiser. The big horse flew easily over the course, and Jessica’s eyes shone when she pulled him up next to Skyler.
“He’s really on today,” she said, catching her breath.
“How’s the knee?” Skyler asked.
“It’s doing good. I’ve never felt better.” It had been tough, earlier, to inject the knee herself for the first time, but she’d managed to do it without passing out and the results were well worth the trouble.
“He sure looks warmed up enough. Since your knee has improved so much, maybe you can take him on the cross-country course today. What do you think?”
“Definitely.”
Skyler grinned at the excitement on Jessica’s face. She reached over and squeezed her knee, partly as a show of support and partly to make sure Jessica wasn’t covering real pain. Not a twitch. Skyler was amazed. That knee really had taken a sudden turn for the better. The physical therapy was obviously paying dividends.
“Let me saddle up so I can trail you and see how you guys do together,” she said. “You know, if your knee keeps mending this way, you’ll be in good shape for the trials.”
“Well, that’s the plan,” Jessica said brightly.
Skyler saddled Con Air and they walked the horses toward the course. “Just take it slow. Don’t let him get away from you. He really likes to fly and I don’t want either of you injured.”
She gave Jessica and Rampage the go ahead, and held Con Air back for a minute to give them a decent lead.
Jessica hunkered down on the big bay and relaxed. The two blazed over the jumps. Skyler had to push Con Air a little to keep up. It looked like it would be a perfect run until they approached the downhill water jump. Skyler saw Jessica’s head lift and her body tense. Suddenly, she yanked on the reins as they approached the jump and the stallion skidded into rather than launching over the jump. The impact nearly unseated Jessica, but since she’d initiated the balk, she was prepared and managed to maintain her seat.
Skyler couldn’t stop Con Air without crashing into Rampage, so they sailed past to clear the jump. She wheeled around and came charging back. “Good God, Jess. Are you all right?” Skyler jumped down from Con Air and ran to Jessica’s side.
Jessica’s face was white and she was shaking so hard her teeth chattered. “I fro—froze up,” she choked out. Tears began to slide down her pale cheeks.
Rampage fretted and pawed the ground, irritated by the sudden stop. Skyler pulled Jessica off him and hugged her in a protective embrace.
Sobs choked Jessica’s words as she fought for control. “What if he fell when he hit the water on the other side? I couldn’t go through the whole hospital ordeal if I got hurt again. I only have to smell rubbing alcohol and I launch into an anxiety attack.” She clutched Skyler’s shirt in her fists and buried her face against the strong chest.
Skyler rubbed the tense muscles of Jessica’s back. “Hey, that’s understandable,” she said softly. “This is the first time you’ve been on a course since the accident?”
Jessica’s shoulders shook with silent sobs. The tears flowed hard for a few minutes before she finally regained her voice. “I just keep seeing Racer lying there with the bone sticking out of his leg. I can hear him screaming. I can hear me screaming.”
“It’s okay,” Skyler soothed her. “It takes time to get over a really bad experience like that. You should have told me it was your first time since the accident. We should have talked about this before we hit the course.”